India gear up to take on world champions Germany in Pro League

The Indian men’s hockey team will eye redemption when they take on the newly-crowned World Champions Germany in the FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022/23 match on Friday at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. Led by star drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian team exited the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 in the pre-quarterfinal stage. The team will aim to regain their confidence by putting up an excellent show in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022/23.

Ahead of the match, Harmanpreet Singh, who is currently one of the three joint top-scorers with six goals to his name in the tournament, said that every game is challenging, but the Indian Team considers it an opportunity to improve as a team and perform better in future.

“Every match at this stage is challenging for us, especially when the oppositions are Australia and Germany. However, it’s good for us that we are getting to play such challenging matches as our focus is on Asian Games. So, we will make sure that we improve as a team by playing such games and give our best in the future,” Harmanpreet was quoted as saying by Hockey India.

Meanwhile, Hardik Singh, who was recently announced as the new Vice-Captain of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team, revealed that going forward, India will tweak their strategy but their core values will remain the same. “There will be minor changes to our strategy, but our core values and principles of the team will remain the same. Also, we will not only focus on our attacking style of play but also work on keeping the possession,” Hardik said.

India, who are currently fourth in the points tally, hosted New Zealand and Spain at the Kalinga Stadium last year in October at the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022/2023. The Indian Men’s Hockey team kicked off their campaign with a superb 4-3 and 7-4 win against New Zealand, followed by a 3-2 loss and a 2-2 draw against Spain.